Second Chances
by The Mad Traveler
Summary: After Team Freewill convinces Sam not to go through with the last trial and try to cure Abaddon, Dean, Sam, and Jo meet Harper Ross on a hunt. She hunts with them for several weeks before everything changes. [Sam x OC] [Dean x Jo] [Cas x Meg] Rated T because this is a Supernatural fanfiction. Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.
1. Chapter 1

Harper Ross had been hunting with the Winchesters and Jo for about four weeks before the accident that told secrets and changed everything.

They'd met hunting the same poltergeist, and she and Sam had hit it off. Jo was already with the Winchesters, having met up again about a year after losing her mom in Carthage. They'd invited Harper back to their base and she'd just stuck around.

The truck comes out of nowhere, slamming into the impala, and sending it down a steep hill until it rolled to a stop.

All of the hunters are out cold, but Harper wakes up first.

She immediately notices the sharp pain in her gut. Looking down she sees the shard of glass lodged in her abdomen. She winces as she begins to pull it out, and gasps sharply when it finally pulls loose. She's extremely thankful that she isn't human.

 _Oh, no._

Harper turns to look at Sam and begins to shake him gently. "Sam? Sam!" He stirs and she breathes out in relief. "Sam, you have to get up. Come on, Sam."

"Harper?" He mumbles, then groaning and reaching for his head. When she sees what he's tentatively touching, she feels sick with the fear of losing him.

"Okay, okay, Sam. You're okay, you'll be fine," she repeats over and over, convincing herself and him. His head wound doesn't look as bad up close, there's just a lot of blood. "Okay, stay with me, Sasquatch."

"Mmh," he groans not moving.

She tries to open the car door, but it's stuck. She begins kicking it with all of her supernatural strength. Her eyes turn gold, she bares her fangs, and growls with frustration. She kicks it one more time with all of her strength and by the grace of whoever is watching over her, it gives.

The door swings open and she tugs on Sam's arm. "Come on, Sam. It's time to get up now."

She pulls him out of the car because he can hardly help her anyway. Once again she's overjoyed about being a werewolf.

"Okay, Sam, you need to stay awake, okay? Stay with me."

"Harper, are you okay?" He asks slowly.

She smiles at him, "Yeah, Sam. I'm fine."

He reaches for the wound in her abdomen. She'd forgotten about it, and the pain has mostly faded. It's soaked in her blood.

"Don't," she says quickly. Leaving him sitting against a tree a few feet away from the car. "Okay, I'm gonna go get Dean and Jo out now." She turns back to try and get the other two hunters.

"Dean? Jo? Wake up," she says when she nears the car. She feels for Jo's pulse and thanks every god or deity she can think of. She shakes Jo, and the huntress slowly wakes. "Welcome to consciousness, Jo."

"What the hell happened?" She asks slowly.

"We got slammed into and we took a fun roll down that little hill."

"Holy shit," Jo mutters staring at the "little" hill. It's a steep slope the whole long way to the bottom.

"Okay, I need you to push on the door so we can get it open and get you two out, okay?"

Jo spins to look at Dean who's covered in blood and broken glass. Fear grips her heart as she manages to say, "Yeah, okay."

"One, two, three!" The pair manage to open the door after a few minutes.

Jo stumbles out of the crushed Impala, putting all of her weight on her left leg. Almost immediately she turns and tries to wake her boyfriend. "Dean? Dean! Dean, wake up! No no no no no!" Still supporting herself on the car, she spins back around and looks desperately at Harper and that's when she noticed the blood. "Holy shit, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," she tries to brush past Jo and drag the older Winchester brother out of his beloved car.

"Harper, is that your blood?" Jo asks completely serious.

She considers lying, but knows that it would only create more panic over Sam's state. "Yeah, but it's just a scratch."

"How-?"

"Just let me help him, okay?!" Harper snaps.

Jo wants to ask more questions, but she's more concerned about Dean. Her mouth drops open when Harper pulls Dean from the car without much difficulty. "How did you-?"

"-Jo, please. Just give me enough time to help you, and then I'll explain everything."

She drags Dean over to where Sam is slumped against a tree, motionless. Jo limps over to check Dean for injuries, and her heart drops when she finds a huge knot on the back of Dean's head. "No. No! No, please! Dean?! Dean! Wake up, you have to wake up!" She's full on panicking and there are tears streaming down her face. "You promised you wouldn't leave me," she whispers, curling into his motionless side and laying her head on his chest listening to his fading heartbeat. "I love you," she whispers.

Harper begins shaking Sam again, trying to wake him up. "Sam! Sam, please!" He doesn't respond, and she sits back on her heels. "Okay, okay," she breathes. Walking over to Jo, she asks if she's okay.

"I- I don't- I can't tell," she whimpers, her hand resting on her abdomen, fear in her eyes.

"Jo, honey, what is it?" Harper asks slowly.

"I can't tell…" she trailed off, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment. "The baby," she whispers. For now, that's her biggest concern. She's completely ignoring the shooting pain in her right leg, but Harper notices the blood and she can see a little of the bone.

"Damn it, Jo. Okay, don't move a muscle! I'm going to get help, okay?" She stood quickly to find help.

Hours later Harper sits by Sam's hospital bed, holding his hand. She had flagged down a car and they had called an ambulance. They stitched up the gash on his head, and for now Sam is stable, but he's still out cold.

A tear slips down her face as she watches Sam's face for any sign of life. She runs a hand through her chin-length wavy brown hair, her eyes fearful.

She knows that Dean has recently been stabilized and that Jo is no doubt near him. She has been examined and the baby is okay. They had tried to give her a separate room after setting her leg and putting the pins in, but, even in her groggy drugged state, she had started shouting demanding to be in the same room that Dean would end up in. Eventually they gave in to her.

She smells Jo before she knocks on the doorframe. Harper turns to see that she has wheeled herself in.

"Jo," she starts weakly. Her voice sounds tired and defeated and fearful. "What are you doing in here?" She notes the tear tracks on Jo's cheeks, and how she seems just dead tired.

She smiles sadly, "Dean's not going anywhere, and I wanted to talk to you. And check on Sammy."

"He's the same…" Harper trails off.

"Harper, how did you get out unscathed? And what about the blood on your shirt? You said it was yours. And I saw the state of the car, how the hell did you get that door open on your own 'cause there's no way Sam helped you? And-"

"I didn't get out unscathed." Jo starts to interrupt her, but she continues. "I woke up with a huge shard of glass stabbed into my abdomen. I was bleeding pretty badly, but I was healing easily seeing as it was glass, not silver. I pulled it out, and it slowly healed up. I kicked out the door with some difficulty, but with the extra strength it was possible. I had to basically carry Sam like I did with your boyfriend, except he did help a little bit," she smiled sadly down at Sam's basically lifeless form. "I'm sorry," she whispers, tearing up. She's still staring at Sam, and Jo can't decide who she's apologizing to.

"Harper," she says softly. She's pretty sure what Harper means, but she needs to be sure.

A sob escapes her, and it shakes her whole body. Jo takes the broken girl in. She's thin, like Jo, but a good bit taller. Her hair is chocolate brown and her eyes are ice blue and full of pain. She's plain, but pretty. And she's obviously in love with Sam Winchester.

"I-I- I'm a werewolf. I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she completely breaks down, sobbing and apologizing again and again. Jo's heart breaks for the woman.

"How long?"

"Years… years… I-I have control. I've never ever hurt anyone that didn't deserve it and I have never eaten a human heart, I swear." She falls silent for a moment. "I'll leave. I'll disappear, I promise, just- just let me stay until he wakes up, please." Harper gasps when Sam's hand tightens its grip on her own. "Sam?" she whispers. She sounds completely broken. "Sam?" she sounds so hopeful, yet there is so much fear and pain in her voice.

After a moment, Jo speaks carefully, as if Harper might shatter, "Harper, you don't have to run." The girl in question spins to face Jo. "I won't tell the boys. I trust you. Don't screw this up, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Thank you, Jo."

"Hey, no chick-flick moments, alright?"

Harper just laughs, "Yeah, you're right." Looking back at Sam, she asks, "So you think they'll be okay?"

Jo laughs, "Yeah, they are the Winchesters after all."

"I'm gonna hug you, okay?" Jo laughs and nods, but when Harper stands to cross the room, Sam holds her hand tighter as if asking her not to leave him. She looks back at him, willing him to open his eyes, to say something. "Please, Sam," she begs quietly.

"Harper?" Jo softly questions.

"He tightened his grip on my hand twice now, so why won't he just open his stupid eyes?" Her voice is almost empty. Jo knows that she's emotionally spent for the day and that both of them need sleep.

"I'm going back to Dean…. Get some sleep, okay?"

"Mmmh," comes the werewolf's noncommittal response.

"Hey, I know for a fact that Sammy will be glad that you slept some."

"I'll try," she lies with a small smile.

"Yeah," Jo smiles back knowing the lie well.

A little while after Jo left, at about three in the morning, Harper does, in fact, nod off. She's curled up in the chair by his bed, still holding his hand. They stay like that, unconscious and sleeping fairly uncomfortably, for the rest of the night. The crash had happened at five that night, and she had been up all day before that. Her body and mind were completely exhausted.

Sam opens his eyes to the bright room around nine that morning, he realizes that he's holding someone's hand and smiles when he sees her 5'10 form curled up in the chair next to him. The position she's in looks uncomfortable and his mind is jumbled so he gently wakes her.

"Harper?" he asks softly. He's surprised that the one word wakes her.

Sure enough, her eyes fly open in shock. "Sam?" she asks breathlessly. She's staring at him, trying to memorize the way he looks when he's awake. The tears build in her blue eyes, and suddenly Sam realizes that she'd been through a lot in the last few hours and he realizes that it's because of him.

"Hey," he soothes, still holding her hand as her tears spill over.

Harper shoots up and throws her arms around him, so Sam pulls her up into his lap and holds her close. She buries her head in his shoulder, and he kisses the top of her head softly. After a few minutes, Harper is calm enough for rational thought and that's when she looks up at him.

They move closer slowly, and then when their lips are only seconds from meeting Harper moves away, getting off of the bed. "I'm going to get a nurse and tell 'em you're up," she says softly.

"Is Dean-" he starts, sensing that she wasn't going to want to approach the topic of what just happened any time soon.

"-Jo's with him. He's still out." She says quickly before darting out to find a nurse.

Two days of examinations, praying that Dean would wake up, skirting around Sam, and pent up energy follow sluggishly.

It's afternoon when Jo wheels herself into Sam's room, her face lit up happily. She nods at Sam, who immediately tries to get up. Harper stands quickly, holding him back with a hand on his arm. He turns to her, his eyes full of excitement. She only lasts a few seconds, before looking down so she doesn't meet his eyes.

"Nurse says to take it slow," she mumbled, her voice completely void of emotion. Sam's shoulders drop a little. He wants her to talk to him again, to get excited and laugh. She's been so distant with him since the almost kiss.

There have been a few times she's gotten close to him, showed more emotion, but she quickly hides in her shell. Everytime she pulls away, it hurts Sam almost physically.

He's going to get her alone eventually, but now isn't the time. Taking her advice, he gets up slowly. She walks just behind him while he makes his way to his brother's room.

"Sammy?"

Sam visibly relaxes at the sight of his brother awake. "Hey, Dean."

"Wow, looks like you were almost as bad off as I am," as he says this he looks at the stitches on his brother's head. He glances at Harper for a moment and notes the lack of injuries. "You alright, Harp?"

"I got lucky," she looks him up and down, "unlike your ass. You'd still be in that car if it weren't for me… and Jo. You're welcome, asshat." She smiles at him.

He grins back. "Thanks."

Sam makes his way over to his brother's bed, and just hugs him. He has been worried the past few days.

"Whoa, Sammy," Dean laughs, hugging back. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just worried, is all." He pulls back.

The room is silent for a moment before a nurse threatens to drag Sam back to his room, and Harper trails along behind them almost like a dog would follow its person. Jo hopes that Dean can't see it too.

Now that Dean's awake Jo knows that she has to tell him, but just thinking about that makes her feel sick. Harper has been giving her sharp looks for the whole damn day, and is minutes from forcing Jo to say it.

Dean can see that something is wrong, but whenever he asks Jo panics, says she's fine, and darts away from him with one excuse or another.

Finally Harper catches Jo's arm and drags her down the hall.

"Tell him!"

"No."

"The hell not?!"

Jo's head drops, and she whispers, "I can't, I can't lose him."

Harper softens, "Jo, he loves you. He's not going to leave you."

"You don't know that. How could you? He- he doesn't want kids." A tear slips down her cheek. "He won't want it," her voice breaks as she says this.

"Jo, look I may not have been around for long, but I can tell that Dean Winchester loves you completely and totally."

Jo looks up at her, fear plain on her tear streaked face.

"Just tell him the truth."

She nods. It's time.

She walks back down the hall with Harper watching her the whole time. Jo pauses outside of Dean's door, uncertainty clear on her face and she rests her hand on her still flat stomach. One hand on the doorknob she takes a deep breath before stepping in the room.

"We need to talk."

"Jo?"

She's shaking and she feels like she can't breathe. In one breath she says, "Dean, I'm pregnant and I'm keeping it."

Silence.

Silence.

His face splits into a grin, "Marry me?"

No, she must have misheard that. "What?"

"Will you marry me, Jo?"

"Because I'm pregnant?"

"Because I love you."

She grins, "Yeah, Dean. I'll marry you."

He looks relieved. She's about to cry.

She wraps her arms around his neck and buries her face in his neck. His arms instinctively go around her, and once more he revels in how well they fit together. They hold each other tight fearful and excited about their future.

She cries into his shirt and he laughs at the muffled complaint about hormones.

He smiles as he breathes in her scent, "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"I have a pretty good idea," she smiles looking up at him.

He grins at her letting the idea of marriage roll around in his mind. He'd been wanting to ask her for weeks, months even.

"Holy shit," Jo says suddenly.

"Hm?"

"We're getting married and we're having a baby."

"I know."

"I never thought…"

"Me neither. I almost don't believe it."

She laughs softly, "I don't either."


	2. Chapter 2

Harper smiles was she passes Dean's room, knowing that everything would be okay with those two.

She figures she should probably not be a complete hypocrite and tell Sam her secret before he falls for her.

But hers is so much different.

Oh, hers is so much darker.

 _So is it still considered hypocrisy?_

 _Jo will probably think so._

 _Damn it._

She's standing outside of Sam's door when she decides to tell him later.

 _Or wait for it to come out._

 _Will it?_

 _Of course it will._

 _Well, I'll just have to disappear._

 _Right?_

 _Will I be able to, though?_

 _Of course. Why wouldn't I?_

 _Because I love him._

 _Shit._

"Hey, Sam," she says walking in.

"Hey," he grins goofily, making her stomach flip.

 _Damn him._

 _She smiles a little._

 _Damn him._

"Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, yeah," she says nervously.

"How were you not hurt in the accident."

She freezes.

 _Why the hell did he ask that?!_

"I don't know, Sam. Luck?"

Believe me. Believe me. Believe me.

"But—"

"—I don't know, Sam!"

 _Too harsh._

 _Shit._

"Right."

"Sorry, I haven't had much sleep."

"Yeah."

"Sam—"

"—No, it's fine."

His cold tone breaks her heart. "Right."

She sits in the chair next to his bed, faithful even when hurt. She brings her knees up to her chest, and then rests her forehead on them. She's been sitting this way a lot lately. Even when the nurses are there. When Sam tries to speak, she just grunts in response. He suspects that it's because she's been in the hospital for days.

He's partially right. His assumption is much more innocent than the truth.

She sits that way in a desperate attempt to block out the gnawing hunger. Being trapped in the hospital for days meant no killing small game, no way to satisfy the hunger that brings down many good werewolves. All she can smell is people and blood. Sometimes she thinks she even hears people's hearts beating like a vamp does. The hunger is painful, but she refuses to leave the hospital.

The impala had been towed to the bunker that they had been headed to. Harper hadn't been yet. They had been on their way before the crash.

"Harper?" Sam's careful voice breaks the silence they've been swallowed in for last hour or so.

"Mmh?" She responds without moving.

"You okay?"

"You're the one in a hospital bed," comes her slightly muffled response.

"Look at me."

"No."

"Harper."

She lifts her head with one eyebrow raised and a mask attempting to hide the pain and fear in her eyes. She fails. He sees it all. Everything.

"You're staring, Sam. Didn't anyone ever tell you that's rude?"

"What's wrong?" Concern is filling his eyes and she doesn't know if she can take it.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Sam, I'm fine."

"You aren't, I can see it."

"Sam," she sighs.

"You can't just hold everything in!" Memories of another conversation from his past begin to surface.

"I've been doing just fine holding it in for a long time, so don't expect me to become a different person for you !" Her voice is raised and she's standing now.

"I'm not asking you to be a new person, I'm just trying to help you!"

"Maybe I don't want your help, Sam! Did you ever think of that?!"

"This isn't healthy, Harper! Why can't you just trust me?!" he demands.

Her answer is a soft and broken, "I'm sorry, Sam."

Harper Ross turns and darts out of Sam's room and down the hall. He tries to follow her, but a nurse comes in just as he begins to stand.

"I saw you from a mile away," she explains with her southern accent and a look that says 'Sit your ass down, now.'

"What do you mean?"

"You two. She hardly slept waiting for you to wake up. Wouldn't speak more than two words to any of us. Poor kid was covered in blood when she showed up and almost had a panic attack."

"What?!"

"Yeah, honey. Tried to get her out of your room and she freaked. She cares about you, and judging by the way you look at her, you care too." Sam begins to shake his head, but she continues. "You may think I'm just some crazy old black nurse, and you'd be right, but, honey, I know love when I see it. And you two, you two have something special. Don't screw it up. If you love that girl, you'll go after her, and if she loves you she won't be far. And if you know what's good for you, you'll be back soon."

The youngest Winchester brother nods and stands. "Thanks," he says softly.

"Good luck, kid."

He smiles at the nurse and then slips out of the room to find her.

He doesn't see her in the hospital, so he goes outside and notices her on a park bench across the street sitting just like she had been back in the hospital room.

As he gets closer, he can see her whole shoulders moving. _Crying, she's crying._

 _Damn it._

"Harper?" he asks softly standing a few feet away.

She freezes for a moment before she answers with a muffled "go away".

"Harper, I'm sor-"

Her head snaps up. "-Shut up. Just shut up. It isn't your fault, okay?"

"What isn't?" he asks, studying her tear streaked face as he speaks.

She looks away from him, swiping at her face self consciously. "I've been in this life since I was born, okay? My parents were hunters but retired after they had me. They're researchers, they only hunt when they have to."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"When I was eleven," she hesitates, her heart and mind are warring over how much to say. How much to tell him about that day. After a second, she continues, "When I was eleven, a werewolf that had a problem with my parents showed up at our house. Killed my mom. I haven't been very trusting since." _Mainly because the damn thing turned me._

"I'm so sorry," he sits next to her.

"It wasn't your fault."

The pair are silent. Harper wants to tell him what she is, but is too damn scared. Sam is hoping for the first time since Jess died.

A week later Dean is finally cleared to leave the hospital. A few days before Sam had been allowed to leave as well so they got a motel room ten minutes away.

He and Harper (much to Harper's irritation) are even closer. Both are falling fast and hard. They stand much closer, and find themselves staring at the other from across the room. They share small touches, nothing obvious.

And Harper is terrified.

Sam, well, Sam is scared too.

Neither like to be unsure of where they stand, though both are used to it. But this is different. They feel like they're falling. Hopelessly.

Harper is still desperately trying to pull away from him. Of course that hasn't been going very well.

She's just relieved they don't have to share a motel room anymore. It was the only room left and thankfully had two beds. During the day Harper spends most of her time outside, refraining from killing some animal.

The hunger is a dull ache inside of her at all times, but she's used to it now. She's had sixteen years to get used to it, though.

They start to head out of town and to the bunker but then caught wind of a ghost haunting the next town. They almost go that way immediately, but they didn't want to have to pay anymore for the rental car.

The four hunters drive to the bunker where Dean and Jo pack up another car and put Baby into her place in the garage.

Sam is the one to give Harper a quick tour, a more thorough one to come after the job.

He shows her the kitchen and the library and a few other rooms before leading her down to the dungeon.

"And this is our dungeon!" he says proudly.

"Your what?"

"Dungeon."

"No, no, I heard you. I just… What is this, Medival times?"

Sam shrugs which makes Harper laugh. Then he begins to laugh with her.

And they can't stop laughing. As soon as they begin to calm down, they look at each other and burst into a fit of giggles. Neither can breathe properly, but they don't care. It's been a long time since either have truly laughed like this.

Eventually they begin to calm down, and look each other in the eyes. A few last chuckles escape Harper, but then the intensity of Sam's stare capture her. She subconsciously moves forward, and he takes a step. Soon enough they're centimeters apart, and then she goes up on her toes and he bends down to help make up for the six inch height difference.

Then lips meet.

It starts soft and sweet, until the kiss deepens. Her arms move from his chest and wrap around his neck. His hands are on the small of her back and one moves to tangle in her hair.

She's backed up against the wall, pressed as close to Sam as she can get.

Finally they break for air, and she looks up at him. Fear is written across her face.

"I- I can't do this. I'm sorry, Sam," she says softly, her voice breaking halfway through the second sentence. A few tears fall down her cheeks, sliding over her trembling lips and dripping off her chin.

He kisses her forehead and she whimpers. He looks at her, studying her face as he wipes the tears away. "What's wrong, Harper?"

Her eyes drop to the ground and she moves away from him. Walking back to the stairs is easily one of the most difficult things she's ever done. She makes it a couple stairs up, feeling his eyes on her back the whole way, before crumbling.

Sam's heart breaks as he watches her shoulders begin to shake, and he almost goes after her when he hears her drag in a shaky breath. But he lets her go because that's what she wants.

He'd back off, and try to prove to her that she can trust him.

When she reaches the kitchen, she runs into Jo who's getting something to drink.

"Harper? What happened?!" She tries to keep the panic out of her voice.

"W-we… We kissed, Jo," she stutters.

"Seriously?" she asks, quickly reverting to teenage girl mode.

"Jo! I- We can't… I mean-"

"Harper, breathe! Breathe. Okay, what happened?"

"Can we go somewhere else? Please?"

"Yeah, yeah."

The pair make their way to Jo's old room, and there they sit down on the bed with the door closed.

"Okay, spill."

"What the hell do I do? I mean I can't very well-"

"-Why can't you just tell him?!"

"- tell him…" she finishes slowly.

"Well? Why not?" Jo presses.

"Well for one, he'll kill me."

"You've never killed anyone."

"No one that didn't deserve it."

"Okay, see now saying that may cause a problem."

"I'm a hunter! I've killed witches and monsters and they occasional _insane_ human that was the cause of tons of deaths and had me cornered."

"Well, yeah. So has every other hunter out there."

"But I have never ever killed a human to eat or hunt or for sport."

"Tell Sam that."

"Look, if he doesn't kill me, he'll never trust me again. How could he love a monster?"

Jo holds back a laugh, "Well, he obviously hasn't told you about his past relationships…"

Harper's brow furrows, "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's his story to tell, but trust me, loving a werewolf would not be the worst thing he's ever done."


	3. Chapter 3

Dean and Sam finish packing the car, and much to both brother's disappointment, Jo and Harper decide to ride together in the rental car.

Jo's stuck at the motel doing research after a loud disagreement over whether or not she should be hunting with them. Dean won eventually, partially because Jo's "morning" sickness took over.

So Sam and Dean play FBI and Harper plays journalist. When they all meet back up in the motel they agree they're hunting a ghost.

They found out that a few years ago a thirteen year old girl drowned in a nearby lake that kids love to play in. The girl was an outcast and bullied a lot. She lived with her dad who was a drunk and tended to leave her on her own. She was at the lake alone when she died. The kid's ghost has taken to drowning other girls in an attempt to make a friend that won't leave her alone. The whole story is a tragedy.

"So three girls have drowned in as many weeks. Each on Tuesday, the same day the ghost girl died," Harper summarizes. "The first girl was Kaitlyn Myers, ten years old, the second was Charlotte Turner, six, and the third was Maria Cisneros, seven."

"Right, so tomorrow is Tuesday. How are we gonna know which kid the is girl..."

"Alexis," Jo supplies.

"Alexis is gonna pick?" Dean finishes.

"Well, each drowning has taken place in one part of the lake, so they girl is probably luring the kids over there," Sam suggests.

"Plus, from what I've heard, lots of parents have stopped taking their kids down there," Harper says.

"So we act like creepers and just hang around the lake all day?" Dean asks.

"Uh, yeah. That's exactly what we do." Harper laughs at his almost nervous face.

Jo grins wider and suggests, "Ooooooooor Harper and Sam could go in swimsuits and blend in. No one would be suspicious of two adults going on a swim date."

Harper's grin is gone.

But Dean's isn't. "That would work! But what about me?"

"You can hide. Three people might look odd."

Both Harper and Sam are silent during this discusion, and Dean and Jo quickly plan out the whole thing.

Harper and Jo go shopping for Harper's swimsuit because neither of them have one. Jo goes for the smaller ones, while Harper is looking at the one pieces.

"Harper!" Jo scolds when she looks over at her still in the one piece area. "No, you are getting something pretty and a maybe even a little sexy, you got that?"

"Jo, I don't-"

"-Nope. I'm choosing, you just try on what I tell you."

Harper groans, but complies. Jo takes a good look at her. Harper's a lot tanner than her, and she's curvier. And not to mention a half a foot taller. Jo stands at 5'4 and Harper at 5'10.

Jo grins when she find a cute almost neon pink bikini. When Harper tries it on, it's perfect. It covers enough of her to look decent, but still is sexy. Plus the color looks amazing on her skin.

A few hours later Harper and Sam are on their "date".

They try to chat for a few minutes, but every conversation is killed by the tension in the air.

Eventually Harper gives up and stands.

"What are you doing?"

"Going swimming. I'm bored." She shrugs and walks to the edge of the water. She lets the water lap up on her feet and finds it almost warm. She smiles and wades in deeper before going under. When she comes back up, Sam is still sitting on the beach. "You scared?!" she yells.

He stands, smiling. "Me? Scared?" he yells back, coming down to the water. "You should be scared!" he says as he wades over to her. He's in above the waist when he gets to her.

"And what should I be scared of?" she asks giggling.

"Me!" he yells as he grabs her around the waist and throws her over his shoulder. She squeals and kicks her legs, laughing.

"Let me go!"

"Never!"

He starts spinning her around and she laughs until she sees the shore. "Sam! There's a girl!"

He drops her and turns. Harper recovers quickly from the dizziness and dives under, swimming to the shore. Sam follows after her.

A little girl is walking slowly towards the lake's edge, while the two swim. Harper's up for air when the child reaches the edge. She yells, "No!" but it's too late. The little girl looks up at her in fear just before she's pulled off her feet and into the water. Harper swims back towards where she sees bubbles at the surface. When she gets there, Dean is on shore and Sam is a couple yards behind her. She dives for the girl, down into the deep water. After a few moments of seeing nothing, Harper catches sight of the girl's arms reaching up. She grabs the kid's hand and then her arms, pulling up. She manages to wrap one arm around the girls torso and begin swimming up. She doesn't make it very far, but then she feels the ghost lose it's grip on the child. There are a few seconds of relief in which Harper fights to get to the surface, but then that feeling comes crashing down when a cold hand clamps around her own ankle.

She keeps kicking and struggling, not letting go of the limp little girl. She may be able to stay under for a while longer than humans, but this kid is already unconscious and Harper is about thirty seconds from losing consciousness.

Then she sees Sam above her. She shoves the kid up to him and he takes her to the surface. Harper keeps struggling, but the pain in her lungs is almost overwhelming. She doesn't know for sure if werewolves can drown, but based on the burning need for air, she'd say they can.

Her movements are slowing and her vision is beginning to go dark. She sees Sam come back under and her oxygen deprived mind thinks about how attractive he looks with his hair floating around his head and the ring of light surrounding his face like a halo.

She puts all the strength she has left into one last fight for her life before unconsciousness takes her. She manages to get a little closer to Sam before her vision goes dark and her body goes limp.

Sam panics when her eye close and air bubbles float out of her mouth and her limp body begins to suck in water. He grabs her middle with one arm, similar to the way she was holding the four year old girl.

He pulls with all of his strength, and after a few seconds he pulls her loose. As he swims to the surface, the ghost girl follows.

He sucks in a big breath when he gets to the surface and then begins to struggle to shore. He only stops when he hears the ghost girl screaming. When he turns, he sees her thrashing around in the water until finally she disappears in a flash of light and they know that it's over.

He carries Harper to shore where Dean is desperately trying to revive the child. Just before Sam reaches shore, she coughs up water and begins to cry and reach for Dean who lifts her up into his arms and holds her tight.

Sam lays Harper out on the sand and begins to try and save her. Only after a few seconds does she cough up water. She sits up and wraps her arms around Sam's neck, burying her head in his shoulder.

Both Harper and the four year old are shivering from the freezing water that was a result of the ghost and the ghost's hand.

Sam wraps Harper up in a towel to warm her up because he knew the bikini wasn't going to cut it.

"I wanna go home," the little girls sobs.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. You'll be home soon," Dean soothes. "What's your name?"

She hiccups then murmurs, "Emma."

"Okay, Emma. Can you tell me your Mommy or Daddy's name?"

"Mommy's Dah… Dehli...lilah…"

"Delilah?"

"Yeah, that."

"Do you know your last name?"

"Peterson… yeah."

"Alright let's get you home, Emma," he says. Emma nods and buries her head into his shoulder. Her wet clothes and hair are soaking Dean's shirt but he doesn't mind. She's wearing a Minnie Mouse tee shirt and black gym shorts. She was barefoot and by the state of her feet, had probably walked here.

After Dean took Emma to the police station and saw her reunited with her mom, he heads back to the motel to see Jo.

They plan to elope in some town somewhere near the bunker. Not the most romantic option, but it's what suits them. Dean can't wait to marry her. And Jo can't wait to marry him.

Their lives are all shifting dramatically, but the next hunt changes everything.

"Looks like there's a shapeshifter in some tiny town in southern Nebraska. About an hour away," Harper announces looking up from her computer.

It's been a few weeks since the ghost lake incident. The impala is already rebuilt. She and Sam had been skirting around each other and their feelings since.

"Shapeshifter? Uh..."

Dean just looks at his little brother and Jo rolls her eyes at Sam's obvious protectiveness. "Jo?"

"Dean, I can sit in a motel room for a few days and do some research. I'll be fine."

"We don't have to-"

"Sam, seriously. I'll be fine," Jo says even though she knows he's more worried about Harper.

He sits quietly hoping another hunter will have already taken the job.

The shapeshifter kills two more people before they can actually catch him. Except when they do, he runs and escapes down into the sewers. Unfortunately, he's the kind of shifter that doesn't actually have to shed his skin.

Harper quickly realizes that going on this hunt was a potentially deadly move for her.

The three follow the creature into the sewers, but he's gone. They split up to look for him because if they do have a problem, they'll just silver test each other. Foolproof.

Harper turns a corner and finds another dead end. "Where the hell did you go?" she mutters under her breath.

She turns around, and the shifter is right in front of her, but he looks like Sam. Lucky for her, she can smell the difference.

"Harper, I can't find Dean or the shifter. I think it got him."

 _Yeah, right._

"Shit, well, I haven't seen either since we split up. We'll find them, don't worry," she says. She'll just pretend until they find the Winchesters.

A few minutes later, she walks back into the area they're supposed to meet at. She turns to the shifter, "We can wait for him here. Maybe he'll show back up."

Then the monster grins in a way that doesn't look at all like Sam Winchester. "Yeah, maybe." He morphs into Harper's form just as Dean comes into view.

The eldest Winchester looks between both Harpers and grimaces. "Alright, the real Harper won't be affected by silver so let's do this." He raises his silver blade and moves forward. Both werewolf and shifter move back. Dean's face turns into one of confusion. "Harper?"

She steps forward slowly, hands out toward him. "Th- that's not gonna work," she stutters.

"How come?"

She's silent. "Dean-"

"-Why not?" he asks again, more demanding this time.

Harper's shaking and suddenly feels sick. "I- I can't," she manages to say despite the lump in her throat.

Taking advantage of this plot twist, the shifter, still in Harper's form, starts to back away. It freezes when Sam's voice comes from behind it. "Don't move. Dean, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. Harper here's just explaining to me why a silver test won't work." He raises his eyebrows at her, wanting an answer now.

Sam's eyebrows furrow, and he looks at Harper in confusion.

She feels like she can't breathe. Her eyes dart between Sam and Dean and she knows it's over. She can't hide anymore. "It won't work 'cause it'll burn both of us," she says softly. She looks at Sam for only a second because the coldness in his face is too much for her to take. A tear slips down her face and she closes her eyes for a moment.

When she opens them again, she looks directly at Sam.

He steps back at the sight of her eyes being yellow and filled with pain. She snarls with fangs and all when she sees the shifter make a move to run out of the corner of her eye. Sam turns to it and shoots it in the heart with a silver bullet. It's pupils turn white as it drops dead.

The younger brother turns and leaves the sewer without a word.

Dean stays, studying the now human looking Harper Ross. He doesn't drop his knife, but he doesn't make a move to attack her.

"It's alright," she softly assures him. At his questioning look, she continues, "If you kill me. It's okay, I get it. I'm a hunter, I was raised by hunters. It's your job. I won't blame you, how could I? I'm a monster."

"We're going to back to the motel, and you're gonna tell your story. Then I'll decide."

She looks at him in shock. "You aren't going to just gank me now?"

"Like you said, you're a hunter. You've had plenty of chances to rip our hearts out, and haven't. I'm giving you a chance. Sam may not be as generous."

She nods.


	4. Chapter 4

When they get to the motel, Dean opens the door then walks her in, never taking his eye off her.

Jo stands, "Dean?"

Harper doesn't look at Jo. She isn't going to risk Jo's happiness. If she goes down, she goes alone.

"Our friend's a werewolf." Jo stays silent. Dean looks at Harper, "Spill."

She takes a deep breath and opens her mouth to start when the motel door swings open and slams into the wall. Sam freezes when he sees Harper. He looks at his brother, "What the hell is _she_ doing here?"

"Sammy, she hasn't actually done anything wrong."

"She's a monster, Dean!"

"So you want me to just kill her?!"

"That's what we do!"

"Sam, when have we seen her do anything but help us?!"

"Monsters kill people, Dean!"

"Not all of them!"

"Oh so we make exceptions now?"

"We've always made exceptions, Sam! I mean Dad told me I'd have to kill you! Do you not remember the demon blood?! We let Lucifer out! We've both been to Hell, Sam! You were soulless! Not to mention, we work with Meg now!"

Sam stays silent, still angry, but silent.

Dean takes a deep breath then turns to Harper. "Tell your story."

She nods and looks at the floor. "Well, first you'll need to know that my parents were both hunters but did mostly research for other hunters when I was born. They started training me when I turned ten. I'd grown up hearing the lore and I'd been able to recite an exorcism since I was five. Anyway, when I was eleven, a fifth generation werewolf found where we lived. It was the child of some other werewolf they'd killed years ago. It managed to get in the house and killed my mother before she could even reach for a weapon." At this point Sam is paying even more attention than he had been. She'd told him part of this story. He still won't look up at her though. "My dad got one of the guns with silver bullets, but it already had me. It was using me as a shield, so my dad couldn't fire. It's arm was wrapped around my neck and I could barely breathe." Sam risks a glance at her, and she's shaking, still looking at the ground. He can hear the tears in her voice. "I- I was so sure I was going to die. I was looking my dad right in the eyes and I tried to smile at him. I- I didn't want him to think I was too scared or that I blamed him because I didn't. All I wanted to do was tell him it wasn't his fault and that I loved him." She takes a shaky breath and continues, "I was absolutely terrified. It let go of my neck but it had my arm." Sam's head and heart are fighting about whether or not to go to her.

 _She's a monster and she lied._

 _But I think I love her._

 _Monsters can't love you back, dumbass._

He stays seated and she composes herself enough to keep talking.

"I screamed when it sunk its fangs into me. I can still hear the way my dad yelled just before he shot it. I guess the werewolf figured turning me would be better revenge than just killing everyone." Harper wipes her face before looking up at Dean. "I actually asked my dad to kill me. I thought that I'd lose control and kill him. We waited for the next full moon, and I changed, but I had complete control. I got lucky." She laughed dryly. "I've never killed anyone to eat, never eaten a human heart. Only things I've ever killed are monsters or the occasional murdering whacko every hunter runs into. Well, I've killed small game when the hunger gets to bad. And the occasional deer. Only animal hearts, and that's not always very often." She takes a deep breath. "So? You gonna put me out of my misery or what?"

"I'll give you a chance, Harp. Please, don't prove me wrong."

"I- I won't." She's looking at him, completely shocked. It's as if she was certain they'd kill her. No, she was certain they'd kill her. She didn't expect mercy.

This realization breaks Sam's heart.

"So Jo," Dean's voice breaks Sam out of his thoughts, "how long have you known?"

"What?!"

"How long have you known she wasn't human?"

Jo looks down, "She told me before you two woke up, but not the whole story. I was giving her a chance before telling you. I'm sorry, Dean. I jus-"

"-Hey, it's okay. It's fine." He stands and walks over to where she's sitting on the edge of the bed and sits next to her. He wraps his arms around her and kisses her head. "I love you," he whispers into her hair.

"I'm just gonna… uh… go to a uh… a bar…" Harper says trying to give them some privacy.

Sam looks around before slowly saying, "Uh… me too…"

Neither Dean nor Jo respond.

"Right," Harper says, and then darts out of the room.

Nothing eventful really happens at the bar for the first part of the night. They ride there in silence, sit away from each other, and basically try to drown their emotions in alcohol.

And it works pretty well for a while. Harper doesn't notice (or maybe just ignores) Sam keeping an eye on her.

Then, after their being there for an hour or so, some asshole starts hitting on Harper. She's been drinking a good bit, and despite her higher tolerance, Sam could tell she was bordering full on drunk. Then again the guy didn't seem to be sober either.

Despite it making his blood boil, Sam stays still.

He watches her try to turn him down, but this guy is persistent. He keeps flirting and trying to touch her, and when she tries to walk away, the guy grabs her arm.

Sam's there in a second. Harper's facing away from him, so he comes up behind her. She's trying to get out of this guy's grip when Sam practically growls, "I think she said 'no', buddy."

"What do you care?" the man slurs. Harper tries to pull her arm away again and almost falls over until Sam steadies her with a hand on her side. Electricity runs through her at his touch.

"Let her go," Sam says slowly, possessively.

"Fine, whatever, man. You can have the bitch."

Sam starts to go at the guy, but a small hand on his chest stills him. "I'm fine, Sam. Thanks."

He just looks at her, and suddenly he desperately wants to kiss her.

So he does.

It's short and sweet, and when he looks at her again, her eyes are wide.

He laughs.

She sucks in a deep breath when he whispers, "Let's get out of here," in her ear.

Out in the parking lot they make it to the impala in a couple minutes. Harper is definitely drunk, seeing as she stumbles across the parking lot grinning ear to ear.

He shakes his head when she starts to sing "Sammy has a crush on meeeeeee".

"Don't let Dean hear you say that."

"You shouldn't be so grumpy. You just defended my honor! You should be happy!" She giggles at him and starts to twirl around in the dark. "Sammy has a crush on meeeeeee! Sammy has crush on meeeeeeeee!" she sings.

"Alright, alright! Get in the car!" he laughs.

"No."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I wanna do something first!"

"What?"

He smiles down at her, and she giggles, "This!" She goes up on her tip toes and manages not to fall over. Her arms wrap around his neck and she pulls him the rest of the way down. Her lips taste like whiskey and she's smiling as she kisses him sweetly.

She pulls away laughing, "I haven't been this drunk in a long time." She swings herself into the car still giggling. He gets in the driver seat, smiling a little. She gasps, "Is that a _smile?!_ Are you smiling at me, Sam Winchester?" He laughs and opens his mouth to respond when she continues, "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just really drunk. No filter. You just look really good when you smile and-" she covers her mouth, then says a muffled 'sorry'. She looks out the window, hand still over her mouth.

They ride back to the motel in silence.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Harper wakes up to a splitting headache. She groans and rolls onto her stomach. "Oh gosh, I'm so hungover." Then a wave of nausea hits her hard. "Oh shit," she says flying into the bathroom and emptying the little contents of her stomach into the toilet. She coughs at the burn in her throat and lays her head on the edge of the toilet after flushing it. She groans as her stomach threatens sickness again.

Jo laughs. "What the hell did you do last night?" she asks from the other room.

"Tried to forget everything. It didn't work." Hazy memories of leaving the bar begin to surface. "Oh hell," she says.

"What?"

"I remember what happened." She squeezes her eyes shut and wrinkles her nose at her drunk memories. "Oh for the love of all things holy, what the hell did I do?"

"What happened?"

"Ugh," she stands carefully, making her way back to the bed. She sits, facing Jo. "So after about an hour I was really drunk, but I didn't realize just how drunk. This asshole kept hitting on me and I was trying to get him to leave me alone, but he wouldn't go away. After a while he gets physical, it just started with him brushing my arm, but then he got mad. He literally pulls me out of my seat and I can hardly even stand at first. I try to pull away and kinda stumble. He starts trying to drag me to the door. I mean I probably would've been fine and been able to pull away normally, but I was really drunk and my feet weren't working right. Then Sam rescues me." She groans. "We left then and he had to keep me upright while I was walking. I stumbled away and twirled around singing something stupid about him having a crush on me. Like a middle schooler. Oh hell, I think I kissed him." She buries her head in her hands. Jo starts laughing at her. "I can't even remember the rest, Jo!"

"Oh my gosh, I can't breathe!"

"This isn't funny."

"This is hilarious!"

"I need something to eat."

Jo calms down enough to make a joke that turns Harper red and sends Jo back into laughter induced spasms.

"I can't believe you just said that. That was not what I meant at all." She shakes her head. "I haven't had an animal heart in like two months, I'm going to starve."

Jo, still wiping tears from her eyes and grinning, asks, "Can't you just order bacon or steak or something?"

"No, I need to kill something. Seriously I can deal with the hunger pains for a while, but I don't usually go this long with nothing." She sighs, "Sam and Dean won't approve. Then again you probably don't either."

"Nah, as long as you aren't killing people I don't care." Harper smiles, then laughs. "What?"

"I just realized how weird this conversation is."

Jo laughs. "I gotta go wake Dean from his coma, then we'll go eat. Sam'll probably go with is. You can hunt then, yeah?"

"Yeah, thanks. You're awesome."

"I know."

Harper tracks a rabbit, catches, kills, and eats it's heart within the span of an hour. After about two months, the pain finally subsides. She's playing with a stick and leaning against a tree when she smells him.

Her eyes turn from yellow to blue and she's glad she already cleaned the blood off.

She sees him before he sees her, so she calls, "Sam?"

He spins and a brief flicker of relief crosses his face. "Harper, what are you doing?"

"I caught a rabbit," she states simply.

"Why?" he asks as if he doesn't already know.

"You know why, Sam. I was starving." She studies him and what she finds shocks her. She steps back. He's irritated at her, almost angry. "What was I gonna do? Starve myself? I have to eat!"

"You don't have to hunt like some animal! You could buy raw meat if you have to!"

"I'm not human, Sam! I'm a werewolf!"

"You don't have to be like this!"

"I don't have a choice! I'm a _monster!_ Hell, you said it yourself! I'm not human! I haven't been for a long time, so stop expecting me to act like one!" She yells at him. He's silent. Tears well up in her eyes against her will. One slips down her face, and she backs away from him. Realization sets in. "You agree. You still think I'm a monster." It isn't a question. She's stating it simply. When he looks away, she takes another step back, shaking her head. The tears dance down her face, sliding over her lips and dripping off her chin.

The world feels like it's crashing down on her. She can't breathe. She chokes out a sob and takes another few steps away.

 _He thinks I'm a monster._

 _He thinks I'm really a monster._

He looks up at the girl that's completely shattering. The image burns itself into his mind.

Her ice blue eyes sparkle with tears, her cheeks are streaked with tears. She's sobbing, but her eyes never leave him. Pain is written across her face. Her whole body shakes and he can hear her struggling to breathe. She suddenly looks small. She doesn't even look like the strong, smart mouthed girl he fell in love with.

This worst part is that the reason she's crumbling is him.

He steps forward, the part of him that doesn't see a monster taking over. The whole idea that she's evil vanishes from his mind, replaced with the image of her now. He needs to help her, to comfort her, to tell her he was just angry.

To tell her she's not a monster.

But she stumbles further away from him, shaking her head.

And the horrible feeling that maybe it's too late comes crashing down on him.

"Harper-" he tries to start, but she takes off running.

He follows. "Harper, wait!"

She weaves through the trees, leaping over logs and rocks. She has to get away. It's a miracle she hasn't crashed yet because she can hardly see. The sobs shake her whole body. It's hard to take a breath. Everything in her hurts.

 _I'm a monster._

She nearly looses her footing, but it feels almost as if something holds her up. She's not even thinking about where she's going, her feet just keep moving, slipping through the forest, knowing where to go without her mind telling them.

She can't feel anything, and she can feel everything at the same time.

In the back of her mind she hears him calling her name.

Then her foot hits a rock and she goes down. She flips over and sits up, but he's caught up with her before she can get back up.

She scoots backwards, kicking at the dust and desperately trying to get away from him.

"Harper, please. Listen to me." She shakes her head and starts to move away when he moves closer. "Wait, wait, wait! Harper, please."

She watches him wide-eyed. She looks like a scared animal.

"I was wrong, okay? I was scared and angry and I'm so sorry, Harper. You aren't a monster."

She still looks wary.

"Let's just go back to the motel, okay? Then we can all go back to the bunker. You haven't even met Kevin or Cas or even Meg yet. We need you, Harper. Crowley disappeared after we stopped trying to shut the gates of Hell. He's probably about to do something big. We'll need someone else to help us win the war."

She doesn't move any closer, and still looks like she's about to bolt.

"Harper, I need you, okay? Before we ran into you I was ready to give up and die in an attempt to close up hell. Even after Dean and Jo agreed that it was a bad idea when Cas wasn't controlled by Naomi and Meg convinced him not to trust Metatron, I still considered doing it anyway. Cas and Meg were watching me like hawks. I wasn't ever truly done with the idea until you. I need you. Please?"

"I'm not human."

"Yeah, well, Cas is an angel and he's in love with Meg the demon who tried to kill our us and our dad, and then later was working with Lucifer and killed Jo's mom and almost got Jo too. This world isn't as black and white as I used to think, Harper."

She slowly stands and walks over to him. "No, it's not, is it?"

She's less than a foot away from him, and he reaches out and wipes a stray tear off of her cheek. She smiles at him.

And then he pulls her closer and lips meet. One hand tangles in her hair and the other pulls her even closer. Her arms go around his neck for a few moments but then she pulls away.

She grins mischievously and laughs. "Race you!" she squeals and takes off back in the direction of the motel.

He sighs good naturedly and follows after her.

Somehow they manage to make it back to the motel in a reasonable amount of time. She breaks into the clearing, breathing heavily and laughing. She doubles over, trying to catch her breath with her hands on her knees.

Sam sneaks up behind her and yells, "Boo!"

He laughs hysterically when she shrieks and falls over. She growls playfully at him.

Dean walks out of the boys' motel room carrying his duffel bag. "Hurry up, Sammy! We're leaving!"

Sam jogs over to his room and starts to pack.

Harper picks herself up off the ground, grumbling and hiding a smile. Playing irritated was easier than letting herself admit the truth. She looks at the ground, wondering what everything meant. A ghost of a smile plays with the corner of her lips.

"Wow, I haven't seen him smile like that in a long time," a voice says from behind her. Harper spins, eyes yellow and fangs bared as she growls at the brunette behind her. "Easy puppy dog, I'm not here to hurt anyone. Just checking in." The werewolf growls as the smell of sulfur overwhelms her senses. "I'm Meg," the demon smiles.

"Harper," she says cooly.

"What have the Winchesters not even mentioned me?"

"I missed the part where they said you were a demon."

"Ah, well. Nobody's perfect," she flashes a grin that makes Harper grit her now human teeth.

"What do you want?"

"Haven't you heard? I'm on your side. Can't I just want to pay my dear friends a visit?"

"You're a demon."

"Yeah, and you're a werewolf. You can't say much."

At that moment Sam comes back out of his room and notices the werewolf glaring at the demon, and decides he should definitely intervene.

Harper stands six inches taller than Meg, but the demon makes up for it in attitude. Both are strong willed and stubborn. Not to mention both are sassy and witty.

"Oh, look! It's your boyfriend, Lassie."

Harper growls, and Sam puts a hand on her shoulder and it seems to visibly relax her. She takes a deep breath and Sam starts talking. "So I see you two have met."

"Yeah, it seems you forgot to mention that I'm a demon, Samantha. Probably would've been a nice thing to mention."

Sam sheepishly says, "Yeah, sorry."

Harper frowns. The fact that this demon is acting like she and Harper are now best friends throws her for a loop.

"Something wrong, puppy dog?"

Harper glares. "Why?" she asks Sam.

"Cas swears she's mostly good despite refusing to show it."

"Right, and Cas is human?"

"Uh, not exactly."

"He's an angel," Meg clarifies. "Not human at all, Sammy."

"Don't call me that."

"Aw, but it's so cute! Reminds me of the old days when you were looking for your dad. Everything was so much simpler back then." Harper stiffens at the almost flirtatious tone Meg uses. "Oh, calm down, Rover. I don't plan on stealing your bone, I have my own," she waggles her eyebrows.

Sam rolls his eyes, "Speaking of Cas, where is he?"

"Upstairs with the other cloud hoppers. For obvious reasons, I have to wait down here. I got bored so I thought I'd come say 'hello'."

"Wait, wait. You and an angel? Isn't that against the rules of the universe or something?" Harper asks.

"I just said I had someone, I never said it was very convenient." Sam's eyes glance down at Harper for a second, and only Meg notices. "If it's easy, then where's the fun? You have to be willing to fight for it."

"We offered to cure you, Meg. It'd make everything easier."

"Cure? For demons?" Harper questions.

"Yeah, it turns demons back into humans," Sam explains.

"And I've told you before, no. You guys need me like this. Plus, I don't want to change back. I'd be all vulnerable and emotional. And… _human._ No thank you."

"It's your choice," Sam reminds her.

"Yeah, I know. I'm leaving now. Tell the lovebirds I said 'hi'."

He opens his mouth to respond, but she's already gone. He sighs. "So that was Meg Masters."

"I noticed."

"You can't take anything she says to heart. She used to be cruel and that's a lot different than how she is now. I'm convinced she feels more than she lets on, but she's just afraid to be vulnerable."

"Sarcasm and witty comments as a defensive mechanism. I know how that goes. Must come with the job."

"Yeah, Dean's been like that for a while. Jo was always sarcastic and witty, but it being a defensive thing too came after a few years hunting." He looks down at Harper. "I've noticed you do it too."

"Oh gosh, are we going to this now, Dr. Phil?" the remark slips off her tongue before she even really realizes what she's doing. She looks away. "I better go pack before they leave me here."

He watches her go, his theory proven right. For once there's no satisfaction at being right. Just a sadness that settles in the back of his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

They make it back to the bunker in a day. Dean only stops once at a gas station the whole way.

Sam and Harper are almost positive something is up. They just haven't figured out what yet. They started listing ideas on Sam's phone. Harper laughs as she types "surprise wedding".

Neither laugh when Dean and Jo tell ask them to come with them a couple towns over so that they can elope. At least not at first.

"You guys are serious?" Harper asks.

"Yeah," Jo answers for the sixth time.

Harper takes one look at Sam's face and doubles over. He looks completely stunned. Harper can hardly breathe. He just looks like there should be a buffering sign in front of his face. "Breathe, Sam!" she manages to say between fits of laughter. "This," she motions at Dean and Jo, "this is awesome." She's smiles quietly for a moment, but then turns to Sam once more and dissolves into laughter.

"Sammy? Hello in there?" Dean asks, waving a hand in front of his brother's face. Harper almost falls over, she's laughing so hard. "Okay, you," Dean looks at the werewolf, "what's so funny?"

She takes a few deep breaths. "In the- In the car we were trying to guess what you two were hiding-" she starts laughing again "- and I guessed - as a joke - 'surprise wedding'. Holy shit, I can't believe that was right!" She starts laughing again at Dean's frown and Sam's silence and the fact that Jo's giggling at this point.

A few hours later, Dean is in his FBI suit and Jo's wearing jeans and a blouse that Dean likes with a pair of heels.

Soon enough the wedding is over and Dean is kissing his wife.

They all drive back, Harper asleep on Sam who's asleep and leaning against the window. Dean and Jo are whispering excitedly, like a couple of teenagers.

Dean carries Jo over the threshold of the bunker and into their bedroom where they fall asleep curled up in each others arms. Their last words before falling asleep being an exchange of "I love you"s.

Harper and Sam are left sleeping in the back seat of the '67 Chevy Impala.

Everything is as it should be for that night.

Of course following the pattern of the Winchesters' lives, soon enough everything is going to go downhill fast.

Meg plunges the angel blade into some low down demon's gut. It flashes orange before falling limp. She'd trapped it to find out Crowley's plans.

Oddly enough, it refused to say anything. Demons aren't usually so loyal.

The King of Hell is planning something big, and she can feel it.

 **AN: So this was all one chapter and was just over 11k words, but this website wouldn't cooperate, so I had split it up like this. No, this is not the end of the story. Per request I didn't make it an awful cliffhanger. Well, she requested no cliffhanger, but I'm not going to be** **that nice. I like writing cliffhangers. It's fun.**

 **I promise you, if you review I'll write faster. I want to know what you guys think. Was it good or bad? Do I need to stop writing multi chaptersand finish the ones I have?**

 **Yes.**

 **Well, that doesn't stop me.**

 **Reviews make me so very happy.**

 **XOXO,**

 **Seraphina Jones**


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